A project to prevent flooding at the Tinsley Mill Village condominiums just off Lake Peachtree is endangered.

The project is slated for grant funding, for which the Tinsley Mill homeowner’s association has committed $166,000. But so far the HOA has only been able to collect $40,000.

While that’s enough to cover the cost of designing the project, it leaves the neighborhood well short of what is needed to build the project. The main idea behind the project is rebuilding one stormwater channel going to the subdivision and another channel to the southeast that feeds into Flat Creek Villas.

The new channel at Flat Creek Villas would go through some land owned by Tinsley Mill Village but it would also ultimately dump into Lake Peachtree, and some Flat Creek owners are upset that it will disturb their lake view. The city would also be widening a stormwater pipe that goes under the road leading into Tinsley Mill.

At a special meeting last week the Peachtree City Council was presented with the issue. Officials suggested that the city could perhaps create a special assessment district to finance the work, but that would set a precedent and increase the city’s service level so staff did not recommend it.

Financing is not an option because at least $1 million in projects is the minimum necessary to be funded, and there are not enough funds in the city’s stormwater utility rate structure to cover such a bond, officials said.

Several Tinsley Mill residents said they feel the problem was created by other developments that sprang up around it after it was built in the 70s.

As the meeting ended, City Manager Bernie McMullen said staff was going to look at a limited number of options. He said the city could look at “being able to go upstream” but he said doing so would be difficult.

“If they don't pay out, there’s a good probability we will come back and recommend we terminate the grant,” McMullen said.

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